Multi-Camera Mounting Chassis

ABSTRACT

Various embodiments include a chassis for a multi-camera system and techniques for forming such a chassis. The chassis may comprise multiple chassis portions that define cavities for mounting cameras. Some embodiments include a chassis portion comprising an integrated shield can-chassis that may be formed as a single component. According to some embodiments, subtractive manufacturing may be used to form one or more features of the chassis.

This application claims benefit of priority to U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 62/904,589, filed Sep. 23, 2019, titled “Multi-CameraMounting Chassis”, which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

This disclosure relates generally to a chassis for a multi-camerasystem.

Description of the Related Art

The advent of small, mobile multipurpose devices such as smartphones andtablet or pad devices has resulted in a need for high-resolution, smallform factor cameras for integration in the devices. Some cameras mayincorporate optical image stabilization (OIS) mechanisms that may senseand react to external excitation/disturbance by adjusting location ofthe optical lens on the X and/or Y axis in an attempt to compensate forunwanted motion of the lens. Furthermore, some cameras may incorporatean autofocus (AF) mechanism whereby the object focal distance can beadjusted to focus an object plane in front of the camera at an imageplane to be captured by the image sensor. In some such AF mechanisms,the optical lens is moved as a single rigid body along the optical axisof the camera to refocus the camera.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A-1E illustrate views of an example system that includes anexample chassis for mounting multiple cameras, in accordance with someembodiments. FIG. 1A shows a bottom perspective view of the system. FIG.1B shows a bottom view of the system. FIG. 1C shows a bottom perspectiveview of the chassis. FIG. 1D shows a top view of the chassis. FIG. 1Eshows another top view of the chassis, and illustrates an example coverfoam that may be placed on a surface of the chassis in some embodiments.

FIGS. 2A-2B illustrate cross-sectional views of an example system thatincludes a camera mounted in a portion of a chassis, in accordance withsome embodiments. FIG. 2B includes a schematic overlay of an examplethermal conduction path along which heat may be dissipated, inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of an example method for manufacturing a chassisfor mounting multiple cameras, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a portable multifunction devicethat may include a chassis for mounting multiple cameras, in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates a portable multifunction device that may include achassis for mounting multiple cameras, in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example computer system that may include a chassisfor mounting multiple cameras, in accordance with some embodiments.

This specification includes references to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment.” The appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “inan embodiment” do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment.Particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined inany suitable manner consistent with this disclosure.

“Comprising.” This term is open-ended. As used in the appended claims,this term does not foreclose additional structure or steps. Consider aclaim that recites: “An apparatus comprising one or more processor units. . . .” Such a claim does not foreclose the apparatus from includingadditional components (e.g., a network interface unit, graphicscircuitry, etc.).

“Configured To.” Various units, circuits, or other components may bedescribed or claimed as “configured to” perform a task or tasks. In suchcontexts, “configured to” is used to connote structure by indicatingthat the units/circuits/components include structure (e.g., circuitry)that performs those task or tasks during operation. As such, theunit/circuit/component can be said to be configured to perform the taskeven when the specified unit/circuit/component is not currentlyoperational (e.g., is not on). The units/circuits/components used withthe “configured to” language include hardware—for example, circuits,memory storing program instructions executable to implement theoperation, etc. Reciting that a unit/circuit/component is “configuredto” perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not to invoke 35U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph, for that unit/circuit/component.Additionally, “configured to” can include generic structure (e.g.,generic circuitry) that is manipulated by software and/or firmware(e.g., an FPGA or a general-purpose processor executing software) tooperate in manner that is capable of performing the task(s) at issue.“Configure to” may also include adapting a manufacturing process (e.g.,a semiconductor fabrication facility) to fabricate devices (e.g.,integrated circuits) that are adapted to implement or perform one ormore tasks.

“First,” “Second,” etc. As used herein, these terms are used as labelsfor nouns that they precede, and do not imply any type of ordering(e.g., spatial, temporal, logical, etc.). For example, a buffer circuitmay be described herein as performing write operations for “first” and“second” values. The terms “first” and “second” do not necessarily implythat the first value must be written before the second value.

“Based On.” As used herein, this term is used to describe one or morefactors that affect a determination. This term does not forecloseadditional factors that may affect a determination. That is, adetermination may be solely based on those factors or based, at least inpart, on those factors. Consider the phrase “determine A based on B.”While in this case, B is a factor that affects the determination of A,such a phrase does not foreclose the determination of A from also beingbased on C. In other instances, A may be determined based solely on B.

It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc.may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements shouldnot be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguishone element from another. For example, a first contact could be termed asecond contact, and, similarly, a second contact could be termed a firstcontact, without departing from the intended scope. The first contactand the second contact are both contacts, but they are not the samecontact.

The terminology used in the description herein is for the purpose ofdescribing particular embodiments only and is not intended to belimiting. As used in the description and the appended claims, thesingular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the pluralforms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It willalso be understood that the term “and/or” as used herein refers to andencompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of theassociated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms“includes,” “including,” “comprises,” and/or “comprising,” when used inthis specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers,steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude thepresence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps,operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

As used herein, the term “if” may be construed to mean “when” or “upon”or “in response to determining” or “in response to detecting,” dependingon the context. Similarly, the phrase “if it is determined” or “if [astated condition or event] is detected” may be construed to mean “upondetermining” or “in response to determining” or “upon detecting [thestated condition or event]” or “in response to detecting [the statedcondition or event],” depending on the context.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments described herein relate to a chassis for use inconjunction with multiple cameras. In some examples, the chassis mayprovide a unitary body structure to which cameras may be attached orotherwise coupled, e.g., to form a multi-camera system module that maybe incorporated into a device, such as a phone or other computingdevice. The chassis may comprise multiple chassis portions that eachdefine a respective cavity for mounting a respective camera. Forexample, the chassis may comprise a first chassis portion to which afirst camera is attached, and a second chassis portion to which a secondcamera is attached. The chassis may enable a reduced size of the systemby integrating (e.g., into a monolithic component) that which in othersystems may be multiple components. As a non-limiting example, one ormore of the chassis portions may be shaped to serve as both a shield can(e.g., for a voice coil motor (VCM) actuator module of a camera) and acamera chassis (e.g., for supporting the camera in a multi-camerasystem), thus eliminating the need for a shield can that would otherwisebe included as a separate component in some other systems.

According to various embodiments, the chassis may include one or morefeatures, such as recess(es), pocket(s), cut-out(s), protrusion(s),variation(s) in wall thickness, etc. In some embodiments, such featuresmay be realized by removing material (e.g., using a computer numericalcontrol (CNC) machine) from a single piece of material (e.g., metal) toform a monolithic chassis that includes the features. Such features maybe designed to, among other things, reduce overall system size, improvethermal performance (e.g., by shortening a thermal conduction path),reduce stray light risk (e.g., by reducing aperture size so as to reduceexcess light ingress), simplify manufacturing (e.g., by reducing partcount and/or eliminating process steps), improve structural integrity(e.g., by increasing stiffness of the chassis at portions with increasedwall thickness), and/or accommodate particular camera profiles (e.g.,based on design constraints and/or requirements), as discussed infurther detail below.

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of whichare illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following detaileddescription, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will beapparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that some embodiments maybe practiced without these specific details. In other instances,well-known methods, procedures, components, circuits, and networks havenot been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspectsof the embodiments.

As mentioned above, various embodiments include a chassis for mountingmultiple cameras. FIGS. 1A-1E illustrate views of an example system 100that includes an example of such a chassis 102 for mounting cameras.According to various embodiments, the chassis 102 may include one ormore features (e.g., recess(es), pocket(s), cut-out(s), protrusion(s),and/or variation(s) in wall thickness, etc.) designed to, among otherthings, reduce overall system size, improve thermal performance (e.g.,by shortening a thermal conduction path, as discussed herein withreference to FIG. 2B), reduce stray light risk (e.g., by reducingaperture size so as to reduce excess light ingress), simplifymanufacturing (e.g., by reducing part count and/or eliminating processsteps), improve structural integrity (e.g., by increasing stiffness ofthe chassis), and/or accommodate particular camera profiles (e.g., basedon design constraints and/or requirements), as discussed herein. Theexample X-Y-Z coordinate system shown in FIG. 1A is used to discussaspects of systems and/or system components, and may apply toembodiments described throughout this disclosure.

According to various embodiments, the system 100 may include the chassis102, a first camera 104, and a second camera 106. The chassis 102 mayinclude multiple respective portions to which respective cameras may becoupled. For example, the chassis 102 may include a first chassisportion 108 for mounting the first camera 104, and a second chassisportion 110 for mounting the second camera 106.

In some embodiments, the first chassis portion 108 may include a firsttop wall 112 and a first set of side walls (e.g., side walls 114 a-114d). The first top wall 112 may define a first aperture 116. The firstset of side walls may extend from the top wall 112. The first top wall112 and the first set of side walls may define a first cavity forreceiving at least a portion (e.g., a top portion) of the first camera104, e.g., as indicated in FIGS. 1A-1B. The first chassis portion 108may partially encase the first camera 104 when the first camera 104 ismounted to the chassis 102. The first set of side walls may includeexterior side walls 114 a-114 c and an interior side wall 114 d.According to some embodiments, the interior side wall 114 d may extendfrom exterior side wall 114 a to exterior side wall 114 c (which isopposite exterior side wall 114 a). Furthermore, in some embodiments,the interior side wall 114 d may have a different wall thicknessrelative to at least one of the exterior side walls 114 a-114 c. Invarious embodiments, the interior side wall 114 d may be shared by thefirst chassis portion 108 and the second chassis portion 110.

In some embodiments, the second chassis portion 110 may include a secondtop wall 118 and a second set of side walls (e.g., side walls 120 a-120d). The second top wall 118 may define a second aperture 122. The secondset of side walls may extend from the second top wall 118. The secondtop wall 118 and the second set of side walls may define a second cavityfor receiving at least a portion (e.g., a top portion) of the secondcamera 106, e.g., as indicated in FIGS. 1A-1B. The second chassisportion 110 may partially encase the second camera 106 when the secondcamera 106 is mounted to the chassis 102. The second set of side wallsmay include exterior side walls 120 a-120 c and an interior side wall120 d. According to some embodiments, the interior side wall 120 d mayextend from exterior side wall 120 a to exterior side wall 120 c (whichis opposite exterior side wall 120 a). Furthermore, in some embodiments,the interior side wall 120 d may have a different wall thicknessrelative to at least one of the exterior side walls 120 a-120 c. Asindicated above, the interior side wall 120 d may be shared by the firstchassis portion 108 and the second chassis portion 110. For example, theinterior side wall 120 d of the second chassis portion 110 may be thesame wall as the interior side wall 114 d of the first chassis portion108. For simplicity of discussion, the interior side wall, that isshared by the first chassis portion 108 and the second chassis portion110, may also be referred to herein as the “shared interior side wall114 d, 120 d”.

The shared interior side wall 114 d, 120 d may be located between thefirst cavity and the second cavity. In some examples, a first surface ofthe shared interior side wall 114 d, 120 d may at least partiallydelimit the first cavity, and a second surface (e.g., a surface facingopposite the first surface) of the shared interior side wall 114 d, 120d may at least partially delimit the second cavity. According to someembodiments, the shared interior side wall 114 d, 120 d may be a solidwall between the first surface and the second surface. In some examples,the shared interior side wall 114 d, 120 d may comprise multipledifferent portions that respectively extend in the Z-axis direction bydifferent amounts. For example, the shared interior side wall 114 d, 120d may include a first portion that is closer to the first chassisportion 108 (than to the second chassis portion 110) and that extendsmore in the Z-axis direction than a second portion (of the sharedinterior side wall 114 d, 120 d) that is closer to the second chassisportion 110 (than to the first chassis portion 108), or vice-versa. Invarious embodiments, the geometry of the shared interior side wall 114d, 120 d may be determined based at least in part on design constraintsand/or design requirements with respect to one or more of the camerasand/or the overall system, such as relative placement of the cameraswhen mounted to the chassis 102, location and/or size of injectionpoints for adhesive, and/or stiffness of the chassis 102, etc.

In some embodiments, the first top wall 112 may have a different wallthickness relative to the second top wall 118. As a non-limitingexample, the first top wall 112 may be thicker than the second top wall118, as indicated in FIG. 1A. In some embodiments, the top walls havingdifferent relative wall thicknesses may allow for the first camera 104to be placed at a different height (e.g., in the Z-axis direction)relative to the second camera 106. The first top wall 112 may beparallel to the second top wall 118 in various examples.

As indicated in FIG. 1A, the first camera 104 may include a first lensbarrel 124 that holds one or more lens elements (not shown). The lenselement(s) may define a first optical axis 126. In some embodiments, thefirst lens barrel 124 may be at least partially disposed within thefirst aperture 116 when the first camera 104 is mounted to the chassis102. Furthermore, the first camera 104 may include a first flex circuit128 that conveys electrical signals (e.g., power and/or control signals)from one or more components to one or more other components. Similarly,the second camera 106 may include a second lens barrel 130 that holdsone or more lens elements (not shown). The lens element(s) may define asecond optical axis 132. In some embodiments, the second lens barrel 130may be at least partially disposed within the second aperture 122 whenthe second camera 106 is mounted to the chassis 102. Furthermore, thesecond camera 106 may include a second flex circuit 134 that conveyselectrical signals (e.g., power and/or control signals) from one or morecomponents to one or more other components. The first camera 104 and/orthe second camera 106 may include various other components (e.g., imagesensor(s), substrate(s), actuator(s), etc.), some of which are discussedwith reference to FIGS. 2A-2B.

In various embodiments, the system 100 may include one or morestiffeners that provide structural support to the first camera 104and/or the second camera 106. For example, as indicated in FIG. 1A, astiffener 136 may at least partially encase multiple sides of the firstcamera 104. As will be discussed in further detail below with referenceto FIGS. 2A-2B, the stiffener 136 may include a base portion and one ormore end portions. The end portion(s) may extend from the base portionand be oriented at a respective non-zero angle relative to the baseportion. In various embodiments, each of one or more exterior side wallsmay define a respective recess for receiving a respective end portion ofthe stiffener 136, e.g., to connect the stiffener 136 to the chassis102.

In a non-limiting example, exterior side wall 114 a may define a firstrecess within which at least part of a first end portion of thestiffener 136 may be disposed, and exterior side wall 114 c may define asecond recess within which at least part of a second end portion of thestiffener 136 may be disposed. The first end portion and the second endportion may be connected to the chassis 102 at the first recess and thesecond recess, respectively, e.g., via an adhesive (not shown) disposedwithin the first recess and the second recess. In this example, a thirdend portion of the stiffener 136 may extend proximate a portion ofexterior side wall 114 b, and/or a fourth end portion of the stiffener136 may extend proximate a portion of exterior side wall 114 d.Furthermore, the third end portion of the stiffener 136 may be spacedapart from exterior side wall 114 b by a gap, and/or the fourth endportion of the stiffener 136 may be spaced apart from exterior side wall114 d by a gap. As discussed herein with reference to FIG. 2B, some sucharrangements for connecting a stiffener (e.g., stiffener 136) to achassis (e.g., monolithic chassis 102) may shorten a thermal conductionpath and improve thermal performance of the system.

As previously noted, one or more chassis portions may be shaped to serveas both a shield can and a camera chassis. As a non-limiting example,the chassis 102 may integrate a shield can and a chassis—which in othersystems may be separate components that are attached to each otherand/or to other components—into a monolithic component such as the firstchassis portion 108 shown in FIGS. 1A-1E. In various embodiments,certain manufacturing process(es) may be used to enable the formation ofan integrated shield can-chassis portion (e.g., the first chassisportion 108) of the chassis 102 and/or other features of the chassis102. For example, one or more subtractive manufacturing processes may beused to form such features by removing material, e.g., from a piece ofmaterial.

By integrating the shield can and the chassis into one component, thesize of the system 100 may be reduced. As a non-limiting example, anadhesive layer that would be used to attach the shield can to thechassis in some other systems, and that is eliminated in the system 100due to the integration of the shield can and the chassis into onecomponent, may enable a reduction in system dimension(s) in the X-axisand/or Y-axis direction(s). Furthermore, embodiments disclosed hereinmay improve the assembly process by reducing part count (e.g., byeliminating the separately formed shield can) and/or by eliminating agluing assembly step that would be used to attach the separately formedshield can to the chassis in other systems.

In some examples, the use of subtractive manufacturing to form thechassis 102 may remove one or more constraints on material selection.For example, deep drawability may be a constraint that limits thematerials that are considered in some other systems such as those inwhich the shield can and the shield can are separately formed via deepdrawing. With such constraint(s) removed by using subtractivemanufacturing, embodiments disclosed herein may allow for theconsideration of a wider selection of materials.

The integration of multiple components into a single component and/orthe use of subtractive manufacturing, in accordance with someembodiments disclosed herein, may enable the formation of one or moreother features of the chassis 102 that may not be feasible in some othersystems. For example, in some other systems in which deep drawncomponents are separately formed from respective sheets of material, thedeep drawn components and/or the sheets of material may not providesufficient material to form certain features in one or more regions ofthe material, e.g., a pocket formed in a top wall as discussed below.

In some embodiments, one or more of the top walls of the chassis 102 maydefine one or more pockets. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1C,one or more interior surfaces of the first top wall 112 may define oneor more pockets 138. The interior surface(s) may be opposite at leastone exterior surface of the first top wall 112. For example, an interiorsurface of the first top wall 112 may face towards an image sensor ofthe first camera 104, and an exterior surface may of the first top wall112 may face away from the image sensor, such that the interior surfaceand the exterior surface face opposite directions. According to someembodiments, the pocket(s) 138 may be sized to accommodate at least aportion of an actuator (e.g., the actuator described herein withreference to FIGS. 2A-2B) of the first camera 104. The actuator may beconfigured to move a lens group and/or an image sensor of the firstcamera 104 in some embodiments. In some examples, the exteriorsurface(s) of the first top wall 112 may block light from passing to theimage sensor via the pocket(s) 138.

According to various embodiments, the integration of the shield can andthe chassis into a single component and/or the use of certainmanufacturing process(es) (e.g., subtractive manufacturing) may enableformation of the pocket(s) 138 in the first top wall 112. In some othersystems (e.g., one in which deep drawn components are separately formedfrom respective sheets of material), the formation of cut-out portions(instead of pocket(s) 138) that extend completely through a top wall maybe required to accommodate the same component(s) (e.g., one or moreportions of the actuator), which may effectively increase the size of anaperture and/or window on the top wall or otherwise increase the amountof light that may pass through the top wall to the image sensor, ascompared to embodiments of the system 100 disclosed herein. Furthermore,by enabling a reduction in size of the first aperture 116, the formationof the pocket(s) 138 in the first top wall 112 may enable a tighter fitbetween the first lens barrel 124 and the first aperture 116, which mayimprove sealing in that region and/or reduce a particle ingress path,e.g., as compared to other systems that require cut-out portions on atop wall to accommodate the actuator.

In some embodiments, the chassis 102 may include one or more regionsthat vary in thickness and/or that have a different thickness relativeto one or more other regions of the chassis 102. Additionally, oralternatively, one or more regions of the chassis 102 may have arespective thickness that provides a desired amount of stiffness (e.g.,torsional and/or bending stiffness). In some embodiments, subtractivemanufacturing may enable forming such region(s) of the chassis 102 tovarious thicknesses in accordance with design constraints and/orrequirements. For example, as noted above, the geometry of the sharedinterior side wall 114 d, 120 d may be determined based at least in parton design constraints and/or design requirements with respect to one ormore of the cameras and/or the overall system, such as relativeplacement of the cameras when mounted to the chassis 102, locationand/or size of injection points for adhesive, and/or stiffness of thechassis 102, etc.

In a non-limiting example, the shared interior side wall 114 d, 120 dmay define one or more pockets (e.g., one or more of the pocketsindicated by arrows 140 in FIG. 1C) that provide location(s) at whichadhesive may be injected to be introduced to gaps between surfacesdisposed within the first cavity (defined by the first portion 108)and/or the second cavity (defined by the second portion 110). In someembodiments, the pocket(s) 140 may be sized to accommodate at least aportion of a needle used to inject the adhesive. Additionally, oralternatively, the pocket(s) 140 may be configured to provide a pathalong which the adhesive may flow to one or more desired locations.

In some embodiments, one or more chassis portions may comprise one ormore corner protrusions each extending from a respective corner. As anon-limiting example, the first chassis portion 108 may have four cornerprotrusions 142 as indicated in FIGS. 1A and 1C. Each of the cornerprotrusions 142 may extend from a respective corner formed by arespective pair of adjacent side walls. In some embodiments, subtractivemanufacturing may be used to form a corner protrusion 142 having aninterior radius that is different than an exterior radius. However, theinternal radius and the external radius of the corner protrusion 142 maybe the same (or similar) in various embodiments. Additionally, oralternatively, the respective internal radius and/or external radius ofone or more corner protrusions 142 may be the same as, similar to,and/or different than the respective internal radius and/or externalradius of one or more other corner protrusions 142 in some embodiments.Additionally, or alternatively, the respective wall thickness of one ormore corner protrusions 142 be the same as, similar to, and/or differentthan the respective wall thickness of one or more other cornerprotrusions 142 in some embodiments.

According to some embodiments, one or more chassis portions may includeone or more grounding tabs, such as the grounding tab 144 shown in FIGS.1A and 1C. The grounding tab 144 may extend from exterior side wall 114b and an end portion of the grounding tab 144 may be connected to one ormore components of the first camera 104 and/or the system 100 to provideat least a portion of an electrical grounding path.

FIG. 1D shows a top view of the chassis 102 with the first top wall 112and the second top wall 118 uncovered. FIG. 1E indicates that a coverfoam 146 may cover the first top wall 112 and the second top wall 118.In some embodiments, the cover foam 146 may be placed between topexterior surfaces of the chassis 102 and one or more other componentslocated external to the system 100. The cover foam 146 may provideprotection to the system 100 in certain cases, e.g., by functioning as adamper that mitigates damage from an impact in a drop event.

Various embodiments of the example system 100 shown in FIGS. 1A-1E maybe described herein as having two chassis portions: the first chassisportion 108 and the second chassis portion 110. However, it iscontemplated that the system 100 may include more than two chassisportions in some embodiments. As a non-limiting example, the system 100may include a third chassis portion (not shown) in addition to the firstchassis portion 108 and the second chassis portion 110. A chassis havingthree chassis portions may be T-shaped in some embodiments. One or moreof the chassis portions may be an integrated shield can-chassis portionlike the first chassis portion 108 described herein. The system 100 maynot include a separately formed shield can between the first chassisportion 108 (and/or other integrated shield can-chassis portions) andthe first camera 104 (and/or other cameras corresponding to otherintegrated shield can-chassis portions).

In various embodiments, the first camera 104 may be different than thesecond camera 106 (and/or one or more other cameras of the system 100)with respect to one or more characteristics. As a non-limiting example,the first camera 104 may have a first focal length that is differentthan a second focal length of the second camera 106. As anothernon-limiting example, the first camera 104 may have a first field ofview that is different than a second field of view of the second camera106. In some embodiments, the first camera 104 may be a first cameramodule of a first size, and the second camera 106 may be a second cameramodule of a second size that is different (e.g., with respect to one ormore dimensions) than the first size. In other embodiments, the firstcamera 104 and the second camera 106 may be the same (or similar) insize and/or other characteristics (e.g., focal length, field of view,etc.).

FIGS. 2A-2B illustrate cross-sectional views of an example system 200that includes a camera mounted in a portion of a chassis 202, inaccordance with some embodiments. In various examples, the chassis 202may be the same as (or similar to) the chassis 102 described above withreference to FIGS. 1A-1E. According to various embodiments, the cameramay include a lens group 204, an image sensor 206, a substrate 208,and/or an actuator. The lens group 204 may comprise one or more lenselements (e.g., lens element 210) that define an optical axis. The imagesensor 206 may be configured to capture light that has passed throughthe lens group 204. The image sensor 206 may be attached to thesubstrate 208.

In some embodiments, the camera may include a lens barrel 212 withinwhich the lens group 204 is held. Furthermore, in some embodiments, thecamera may include a lens carrier 214 that is coupled with the lensbarrel 212 and/or the lens group 204. For example, the lens carrier 214may be coupled with the lens barrel 212 and/or the lens group 204 suchthat the lens carrier 214, the lens barrel 212, and/or the lens group204 are movable (e.g., via the actuator) together (e.g., in lockstep).

According to various embodiments, the actuator may be configured to movethe lens group 204 relative to the image sensor 206. Additionally, oralternatively, the actuator may be configured to move the image sensor206 relative to the lens group 204. In various examples, the actuatormay be used to provide autofocus (AF) and/or optical image stabilization(OIS) functionality. In some embodiments, the actuator may comprise aVCM actuator with an arrangement of one or more magnets and one or morecoils. The magnet(s) may magnetically interact with the coil(s) toproduce Lorentz forces that cause movement of one or more components ofthe camera, e.g., for AF and/or OIS purposes.

As indicated in FIGS. 2A-2B, the camera may include a magnet holder 216to which one or more magnets 218 of the actuator may be attached. One ormore AF coils 220 of the actuator may be attached to the lens carrier214. The AF coil(s) may be located proximate the magnet(s) 218 so thatthey can magnetically interact, e.g., to provide AF movement (e.g.,movement along the optical axis) of the lens group 204 relative to theimage sensor 206. In some embodiments, the actuator may include one ormore OIS coils 222 located proximate the magnet(s) 218 (e.g., below themagnet(s) 218) so that they can magnetically interact, e.g., to provideOIS movement (e.g., movement in one or more directions orthogonal to theoptical axis) of the lens group 204 relative to the image sensor 206. Inthis non-limiting example, the OIS coil(s) 222 may be disposed on astationary structure that is stationary relative to movement of the lensgroup 204 in some embodiments.

According to various embodiments, the chassis 202 may at least partiallyencase the camera. Furthermore, the system 200 may include a stiffener224 that may at least partially encase the camera. In some embodiments,the chassis 202 may encase a first portion (e.g., an upper portion) ofthe camera, and the stiffener 224 may encase a second portion (e.g., alower portion) of the camera. In various embodiments, the first portionand the second portion may overlap in one or more regions at which thestiffener 224 overlaps with the chassis 202 (e.g., region(s) at whichthe stiffener 224 may be attached to the chassis 202).

In some embodiments, the chassis 202 may include one or more top walls226 and one or more side walls 228. In some non-limiting examples, thetop wall(s) 226 may extend proximate to (e.g., above) the actuator(and/or another portion of the camera) such that the top wall(s) 226 atleast partially encase the actuator and the camera from above.Additionally, or alternatively, the side wall(s) 228 may extendproximate to (e.g., alongside) respective sides of the actuator (and/orrespective sides of the camera) such that the side wall(s) 228 at leastpartially encase sides of the actuator and the camera.

In some embodiments, the stiffener 224 may include a base portion 230and one or more end portions 232. The base portion 230 may extendproximate (e.g., below) to the substrate 208 and/or parallel to theimage sensor 206 in some embodiments. The end portion(s) 232 may extendfrom the base portion 230. Furthermore, each of the end portion(s) 232may be oriented at a respective non-zero angle relative to the baseportion 230. In a non-limiting example, the end portion(s) 232 may beorthogonal to the base portion 230. The base portion 230 may at leastpartially encase the camera from below. The end portion(s) 232 mayextend proximate to (e.g., alongside) respective sides of the camerasuch that the end portion(s) 232 at least partially encase sides of thecamera. According to some non-limiting examples, the stiffener 224 maybe considered a folded stiffener that is formed, e.g., by folding apiece of material (e.g., a sheet of metal). In some examples, the pieceof material may be cut (e.g., via etching) into a particular shapeincluding the base portion 230 and tabs extending from the base portion230 that can be folded to form the end portions 232.

According to various embodiments, one or more of the side walls 228 ofthe chassis 202 may define a respective recess 234 for receiving arespective end portion 232 of the stiffener 224. In some embodiments, aside wall 228 may comprise a first portion having a first wallthickness, and a second portion that extends form the first portion andthat has a second wall thickness that is greater than the first wallthickness, e.g., as indicated in FIGS. 2A-2B. For example, the firstportion of the side wall 228 may include an exterior surface of therecess 234 to which an end portion 232 of the stiffener 224 may beattached, e.g., via an adhesive 236 disposed within the recess 234 asindicated in FIG. 2B. In some embodiments, the end portion 232 of thestiffener 224 may be biased towards the corresponding side wall 228 towhich it is attached. In some non-limiting embodiments, the recess 234may be sized such that it may contain the adhesive 236, with the endportion 232 of the stiffener 224 being disposed within the recess 234such that an external surface of the end portion 232 is flush with anexterior surface of the second portion of the side wall 228.

FIG. 2B includes a schematic overlay of an example thermal conductionpath 238 of the system 200. The thermal conduction path 238 mayrepresent a path along which heat may be dissipated in some embodiments.As a non-limiting example, heat produced by one or more components(e.g., the image sensor 206, the OIS coil(s) 222, a motor driver 240 forcontrolling the actuator, etc.) of the camera may travel along thethermal conduction path and be dissipated from the chassis 202 to anenvironment external to the chassis 202.

As indicated in FIG. 2B, the thermal conduction path 238 may includeheat transferring from the stiffener 224 to the chassis 202 via theadhesive 236 disposed within the recess 234. In various embodiments, theadhesive 236 disposed within the recess 234 may be the only interveningmaterial, in the heat conduction path 238, between the stiffener 224 andthe chassis 202. In some other systems (e.g., in which the shield canand the chassis are formed separately, as discussed above), an adhesivelayer would be used to attach the shield can to the chassis, meaningthat such other systems would include at least two additionalintervening materials (e.g., the separately formed shield can and theadhesive used to attach it to the chassis) to the corresponding thermalconduction path. Compared to those other systems, the thermal conductionpath 238 of the system 200 may be shortened, as the chassis 202 maycomprise one or more integrated shield can-chassis portions, thuseliminating the need for the separately formed shield can and theadditional adhesive layer of the other systems. The shortened thermalconduction path 238 may improve thermal performance of the system 200compared to other systems having the longer thermal conduction path.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of an example method 300 for manufacturing achassis (e.g. which may include one or more features of the chassis 102described herein with reference to FIGS. 1A-1E and/or the chassis 202described herein with reference to FIGS. 2A-2B) for mounting multiplecameras, in accordance with some embodiments. It should be understoodthat the operations of the method 300 are not necessarily performed inthe order in which they are described. That is, the operations of themethod 300 may be performed in one or more different orders inaccordance with various implementations. Furthermore, it should beunderstood that one or more of the operations described herein may beomitted in some implementations. Similarly, it should be understood thatthe operations described herein are not an exhaustive list of operationsthat may be included in the method 300. It is contemplated that fewer oradditional (and/or different) operations than those described herein maybe performed in various embodiments.

At 302, the method 300 may include removing portions(s) from a piece ofmaterial to form the chassis for mounting multiple cameras. In variousimplementations, the method 300 may include one or more operations ofremoving material from a same piece of material, e.g., via subtractivemanufacturing such as (but not limited to) CNC machining.

According to various examples, at 304, the method 300 may includeforming cavities for receiving cameras. In some implementations, at 306,the method 300 may include removing material, from the piece ofmaterial, to form a first cavity for receiving a first camera. Forexample, the first cavity may be at least partially defined by a firsttop wall and a first set of side walls of a first chassis portion. Thefirst chassis portion may be structured to partially encase the firstcamera when the first camera is mounted to the chassis. In someimplementations, at 308, the method 300 may include removing material,from the piece of material, to form a second cavity for receiving asecond camera. For example, the second cavity may be at least partiallydefined by a second top wall and a second set of side walls of a secondchassis portion. The second chassis portion may be structured topartially encase the second camera when the second camera is mounted tothe chassis. In some embodiments, the first top wall may have adifferent wall thickness relative to the second top wall.

At 310, the method 300 may include forming an interior side wall, e.g.,via formation of the first cavity (at 306) and/or formation of thesecond cavity (at 308), according to some implementations. In someexamples, a portion of the interior side wall may be formed as a resultof forming the first cavity (at 306) and/or forming the second cavity(at 308), and one or more features (e.g., recess(es), pocket(s),protrusion(s), etc.) may be defined on the interior side wall in anothermaterial removal operation, e.g., at 312, where the method 300 mayinclude removing material, from the piece of material, to form at leasta portion of the interior side wall. In some embodiments, the interiorside wall may have a different wall thickness relative to at least oneside wall of the first set of side walls and/or relative to at least oneside wall of the second set of side walls.

At 314, the method 300 may include forming aperture(s) in the topwall(s). For example, a first aperture may be formed in the first topwall that partially defines the first cavity, and a second aperture maybe formed in the second top wall that partially defines the secondcavity. The first aperture may be configured to receive at least aportion of the first camera (e.g., a lens barrel of the first camera).The second aperture may be configured to receive at least a portion ofthe second camera (e.g., a lens barrel of the second camera).

At 316, the method 300 may include forming pocket(s) in the top wall(s).For example, the pocket(s) may be configured to accommodate at least aportion of an actuator of the first camera and/or the second camera insome embodiments. According to some examples, a pocket may be defined byone or more interior surfaces of a top wall. The interior surface(s) maybe opposite at least one exterior surface of the top wall.

At 318, the method 300 may include forming recess(es) in side wall(s).For example, material may be removed, from the piece of material, toform a recess defined by a side wall of the first set of side walls orthe second set of side walls, such that a first portion of the side wallhas a different wall thickness relative to a second portion of the sidewall due to the recess. As described herein with reference to FIGS.1A-2B, the recess may be configured to receive an end portion of astiffener that at least partially encases the first camera and/or thesecond camera. Adhesive may be disposed within the recess to attach theend portion of the stiffener to the chassis.

Multifunction Device Examples

Embodiments of electronic devices, user interfaces for such devices, andassociated processes for using such devices are described. In someembodiments, the device is a portable communications device, such as amobile telephone, that also contains other functions, such as PDA and/ormusic player functions. Example embodiments of portable multifunctiondevices include, without limitation, the iPhone®, iPod Touch®, and iPad®devices from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. Other portable electronicdevices, such as laptops, cameras, cell phones, or tablet computers, mayalso be used. It should also be understood that, in some embodiments,the device is not a portable communications device, but is a desktopcomputer with a camera. In some embodiments, the device is a gamingcomputer with orientation sensors (e.g., orientation sensors in a gamingcontroller). In other embodiments, the device is not a portablecommunications device, but is a camera.

In the discussion that follows, an electronic device that includes adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface is described. It should beunderstood, however, that the electronic device may include one or moreother physical user-interface devices, such as a physical keyboard, amouse and/or a joystick.

The device typically supports a variety of applications, such as one ormore of the following: a drawing application, a presentationapplication, a word processing application, a website creationapplication, a disk authoring application, a spreadsheet application, agaming application, a telephone application, a video conferencingapplication, an e-mail application, an instant messaging application, aworkout support application, a photo management application, a digitalcamera application, a digital video camera application, a web browsingapplication, a digital music player application, and/or a digital videoplayer application.

The various applications that may be executed on the device may use atleast one common physical user-interface device, such as thetouch-sensitive surface. One or more functions of the touch-sensitivesurface as well as corresponding information displayed on the device maybe adjusted and/or varied from one application to the next and/or withina respective application. In this way, a common physical architecture(such as the touch-sensitive surface) of the device may support thevariety of applications with user interfaces that are intuitive andtransparent to the user.

Attention is now directed toward embodiments of portable devices withcameras. FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an example portablemultifunction device 400 that may include a chassis for mountingmultiple cameras (e.g., the chassis and/or camera(s) described abovewith reference to FIGS. 1A-3), in accordance with some embodiments.Cameras 464 are sometimes called “optical sensors” for convenience, andmay also be known as or called an optical sensor system. Device 400 mayinclude memory 402 (which may include one or more computer readablestorage mediums), memory controller 422, one or more processing units(CPUs) 420, peripherals interface 418, RF circuitry 408, audio circuitry410, speaker 411, touch-sensitive display system 412, microphone 413,input/output (I/O) subsystem 406, other input or control devices 416,and external port 424. Device 400 may include multiple optical sensors464. These components may communicate over one or more communicationbuses or signal lines 403.

It should be appreciated that device 400 is only one example of aportable multifunction device, and that device 400 may have more orfewer components than shown, may combine two or more components, or mayhave a different configuration or arrangement of the components. Thevarious components shown in FIG. 4 may be implemented in hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software, including one ormore signal processing and/or application specific integrated circuits.

Memory 402 may include high-speed random access memory and may alsoinclude non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storagedevices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state memorydevices. Access to memory 402 by other components of device 400, such asCPU 420 and the peripherals interface 418, may be controlled by memorycontroller 422.

Peripherals interface 418 can be used to couple input and outputperipherals of the device to CPU 420 and memory 402. The one or moreprocessors 420 run or execute various software programs and/or sets ofinstructions stored in memory 402 to perform various functions fordevice 400 and to process data.

In some embodiments, peripherals interface 418, CPU 420, and memorycontroller 422 may be implemented on a single chip, such as chip 404. Insome other embodiments, they may be implemented on separate chips.

RF (radio frequency) circuitry 408 receives and sends RF signals, alsocalled electromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 408 converts electricalsignals to/from electromagnetic signals and communicates withcommunications networks and other communications devices via theelectromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 408 may include well-knowncircuitry for performing these functions, including but not limited toan antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner,one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a CODEC chipset, asubscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory, and so forth. RFcircuitry 408 may communicate with networks, such as the Internet, alsoreferred to as the World Wide Web (WWW), an intranet and/or a wirelessnetwork, such as a cellular telephone network, a wireless local areanetwork (LAN) and/or a metropolitan area network (MAN), and otherdevices by wireless communication. The wireless communication may useany of a variety of communications standards, protocols andtechnologies, including but not limited to Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), high-speeddownlink packet access (HSDPA), high-speed uplink packet access (HSDPA),wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA), code division multipleaccess (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Bluetooth, WirelessFidelity (Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g and/orIEEE 802.11n), voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, a protocolfor e-mail (e.g., Internet message access protocol (IMAP) and/or postoffice protocol (POP)), instant messaging (e.g., extensible messagingand presence protocol (XMPP), Session Initiation Protocol for InstantMessaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), Instant Messagingand Presence Service (IMPS)), and/or Short Message Service (SMS), or anyother suitable communication protocol, including communication protocolsnot yet developed as of the filing date of this document.

Audio circuitry 410, speaker 411, and microphone 413 provide an audiointerface between a user and device 400. Audio circuitry 410 receivesaudio data from peripherals interface 418, converts the audio data to anelectrical signal, and transmits the electrical signal to speaker 411.Speaker 411 converts the electrical signal to human-audible sound waves.Audio circuitry 410 also receives electrical signals converted bymicrophone 413 from sound waves. Audio circuitry 410 converts theelectrical signal to audio data and transmits the audio data toperipherals interface 418 for processing. Audio data may be retrievedfrom and/or transmitted to memory 402 and/or RF circuitry 408 byperipherals interface 418. In some embodiments, audio circuitry 410 alsoincludes a headset jack (e.g., 512, FIG. 5). The headset jack providesan interface between audio circuitry 410 and removable audioinput/output peripherals, such as output-only headphones or a headsetwith both output (e.g., a headphone for one or both ears) and input(e.g., a microphone).

I/O subsystem 406 couples input/output peripherals on device 400, suchas touch screen 412 and other input control devices 416, to peripheralsinterface 418. I/O subsystem 406 may include display controller 456 andone or more input controllers 460 for other input or control devices.The one or more input controllers 460 receive/send electrical signalsfrom/to other input or control devices 416. The other input controldevices 416 may include physical buttons (e.g., push buttons, rockerbuttons, etc.), dials, slider switches, joysticks, click wheels, and soforth. In some alternate embodiments, input controller(s) 460 may becoupled to any (or none) of the following: a keyboard, infrared port,USB port, and a pointer device such as a mouse. The one or more buttons(e.g., 508, FIG. 5) may include an up/down button for volume control ofspeaker 411 and/or microphone 413. The one or more buttons may include apush button (e.g., 506, FIG. 5).

Touch-sensitive display 412 provides an input interface and an outputinterface between the device and a user. Display controller 456 receivesand/or sends electrical signals from/to touch screen 412. Touch screen412 displays visual output to the user. The visual output may includegraphics, text, icons, video, and any combination thereof (collectivelytermed “graphics”). In some embodiments, some or all of the visualoutput may correspond to user-interface objects.

Touch screen 412 has a touch-sensitive surface, sensor or set of sensorsthat accepts input from the user based on haptic and/or tactile contact.Touch screen 412 and display controller 456 (along with any associatedmodules and/or sets of instructions in memory 402) detect contact (andany movement or breaking of the contact) on touch screen 412 andconverts the detected contact into interaction with user-interfaceobjects (e.g., one or more soft keys, icons, web pages or images) thatare displayed on touch screen 412. In an example embodiment, a point ofcontact between touch screen 412 and the user corresponds to a finger ofthe user.

Touch screen 412 may use LCD (liquid crystal display) technology, LPD(light emitting polymer display) technology, or LED (light emittingdiode) technology, although other display technologies may be used inother embodiments. Touch screen 412 and display controller 456 maydetect contact and any movement or breaking thereof using any of avariety of touch sensing technologies now known or later developed,including but not limited to capacitive, resistive, infrared, andsurface acoustic wave technologies, as well as other proximity sensorarrays or other elements for determining one or more points of contactwith touch screen 412. In an example embodiment, projected mutualcapacitance sensing technology is used, such as that found in theiPhone®, iPod Touch®, and iPad® from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.

Touch screen 412 may have a video resolution in excess of 800 dpi. Insome embodiments, the touch screen has a video resolution ofapproximately 860 dpi. The user may make contact with touch screen 412using any suitable object or appendage, such as a stylus, a finger, andso forth. In some embodiments, the user interface is designed to workprimarily with finger-based contacts and gestures, which can be lessprecise than stylus-based input due to the larger area of contact of afinger on the touch screen. In some embodiments, the device translatesthe rough finger-based input into a precise pointer/cursor position orcommand for performing the actions desired by the user.

In some embodiments, in addition to the touch screen, device 400 mayinclude a touchpad (not shown) for activating or deactivating particularfunctions. In some embodiments, the touchpad is a touch-sensitive areaof the device that, unlike the touch screen, does not display visualoutput. The touchpad may be a touch-sensitive surface that is separatefrom touch screen 412 or an extension of the touch-sensitive surfaceformed by the touch screen.

Device 400 also includes power system 462 for powering the variouscomponents. Power system 462 may include a power management system, oneor more power sources (e.g., battery, alternating current (AC)), arecharging system, a power failure detection circuit, a power converteror inverter, a power status indicator (e.g., a light-emitting diode(LED)) and any other components associated with the generation,management and distribution of power in portable devices.

Device 400 may also include one or more optical sensors or cameras 464.FIG. 4 shows an optical sensor 464 coupled to optical sensor controller458 in I/O subsystem 406. Optical sensor 464 may include charge-coupleddevice (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)phototransistors. Optical sensor 464 receives light from theenvironment, projected through one or more lens, and converts the lightto data representing an image. In conjunction with imaging module 443(also called a camera module), optical sensor 464 may capture stillimages or video. In some embodiments, an optical sensor 464 is locatedon the back of device 400, opposite touch screen display 412 on thefront of the device, so that the touch screen display 412 may be used asa viewfinder for still and/or video image acquisition. In someembodiments, another optical sensor is located on the front of thedevice so that the user's image may be obtained for videoconferencingwhile the user views the other video conference participants on thetouch screen display.

Device 400 may also include one or more proximity sensors 466. FIG. 4shows proximity sensor 466 coupled to peripherals interface 418.Alternately, proximity sensor 466 may be coupled to input controller 460in I/O subsystem 406. In some embodiments, the proximity sensor 466turns off and disables touch screen 412 when the multifunction device400 is placed near the user's ear (e.g., when the user is making a phonecall).

Device 400 includes one or more orientation sensors 468. In someembodiments, the one or more orientation sensors 468 include one or moreaccelerometers (e.g., one or more linear accelerometers and/or one ormore rotational accelerometers). In some embodiments, the one or moreorientation sensors 468 include one or more gyroscopes. In someembodiments, the one or more orientation sensors 468 include one or moremagnetometers. In some embodiments, the one or more orientation sensors468 include one or more of global positioning system (GPS), GlobalNavigation Satellite System (GLONASS), and/or other global navigationsystem receivers. The GPS, GLONASS, and/or other global navigationsystem receivers may be used for obtaining information concerning thelocation and orientation (e.g., portrait or landscape) of device 400. Insome embodiments, the one or more orientation sensors 468 include anycombination of orientation/rotation sensors. FIG. 4 shows the one ormore orientation sensors 468 coupled to peripherals interface 418.Alternately, the one or more orientation sensors 468 may be coupled toan input controller 460 in I/O subsystem 406. In some embodiments,information is displayed on the touch screen display 412 in a portraitview or a landscape view based on an analysis of data received from theone or more orientation sensors 468.

In some embodiments, the software components stored in memory 402include operating system 426, communication module (or set ofinstructions) 428, contact/motion module (or set of instructions) 430,graphics module (or set of instructions) 432, text input module (or setof instructions) 434, Global Positioning System (GPS) module (or set ofinstructions) 435, arbiter module 458 and applications (or sets ofinstructions) 436. Furthermore, in some embodiments memory 402 storesdevice/global internal state 457. Device/global internal state 457includes one or more of: active application state, indicating whichapplications, if any, are currently active; display state, indicatingwhat applications, views or other information occupy various regions oftouch screen display 412; sensor state, including information obtainedfrom the device's various sensors and input control devices 416; andlocation information concerning the device's location and/or attitude.

Operating system 426 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X, WINDOWS, oran embedded operating system such as VxWorks) includes various softwarecomponents and/or drivers for controlling and managing general systemtasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control, powermanagement, etc.) and facilitates communication between various hardwareand software components.

Communication module 428 facilitates communication with other devicesover one or more external ports 424 and also includes various softwarecomponents for handling data received by RF circuitry 408 and/orexternal port 424. External port 424 (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB),FIREWIRE, etc.) is adapted for coupling directly to other devices orindirectly over a network (e.g., the Internet, wireless LAN, etc.). Insome embodiments, the external port is a multi-pin (e.g., 30-pin)connector.

Contact/motion module 430 may detect contact with touch screen 412 (inconjunction with display controller 456) and other touch sensitivedevices (e.g., a touchpad or physical click wheel). Contact/motionmodule 430 includes various software components for performing variousoperations related to detection of contact, such as determining ifcontact has occurred (e.g., detecting a finger-down event), determiningif there is movement of the contact and tracking the movement across thetouch-sensitive surface (e.g., detecting one or more finger-draggingevents), and determining if the contact has ceased (e.g., detecting afinger-up event or a break in contact). Contact/motion module 430receives contact data from the touch-sensitive surface. Determiningmovement of the point of contact, which is represented by a series ofcontact data, may include determining speed (magnitude), velocity(magnitude and direction), and/or an acceleration (a change in magnitudeand/or direction) of the point of contact. These operations may beapplied to single contacts (e.g., one finger contacts) or to multiplesimultaneous contacts (e.g., “multitouch”/multiple finger contacts). Insome embodiments, contact/motion module 430 and display controller 456detect contact on a touchpad.

Contact/motion module 430 may detect a gesture input by a user.Different gestures on the touch-sensitive surface have different contactpatterns. Thus, a gesture may be detected by detecting a particularcontact pattern. For example, detecting a finger tap gesture includesdetecting a finger-down event followed by detecting a finger-up (liftoff) event at the same position (or substantially the same position) asthe finger-down event (e.g., at the position of an icon). As anotherexample, detecting a finger swipe gesture on the touch-sensitive surfaceincludes detecting a finger-down event followed by detecting one or morefinger-dragging events, and subsequently followed by detecting afinger-up (lift off) event.

Graphics module 432 includes various known software components forrendering and displaying graphics on touch screen 412 or other display,including components for changing the intensity of graphics that aredisplayed. As used herein, the term “graphics” includes any object thatcan be displayed to a user, including without limitation text, webpages, icons (such as user-interface objects including soft keys),digital images, videos, animations and the like.

In some embodiments, graphics module 432 stores data representinggraphics to be used. Each graphic may be assigned a corresponding code.Graphics module 432 receives, from applications etc., one or more codesspecifying graphics to be displayed along with, if necessary, coordinatedata and other graphic property data, and then generates screen imagedata to output to display controller 456.

Text input module 434, which may be a component of graphics module 432,provides soft keyboards for entering text in various applications (e.g.,contacts 437, e-mail 440, IM 441, browser 447, and any other applicationthat needs text input).

GPS module 435 determines the location of the device and provides thisinformation for use in various applications (e.g., to telephone 438 foruse in location-based dialing, to camera 443 as picture/video metadata,and to applications that provide location-based services such as weatherwidgets, local yellow page widgets, and map/navigation widgets).

Applications 436 may include the following modules (or sets ofinstructions), or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   contacts module 437 (sometimes called an address book or contact        list);    -   telephone module 438;    -   video conferencing module 439;    -   e-mail client module 440;    -   instant messaging (IM) module 441;    -   workout support module 442;    -   camera module 443 for still and/or video images;    -   image management module 444;    -   browser module 447;    -   calendar module 448;    -   widget modules 449, which may include one or more of: weather        widget 449-1, stocks widget 449-2, calculator widget 449-3,        alarm clock widget 449-4, dictionary widget 449-5, and other        widgets obtained by the user, as well as user-created widgets        449-6;    -   widget creator module 450 for making user-created widgets 449-6;    -   search module 451;    -   video and music player module 452, which may be made up of a        video player module and a music player module;    -   notes module 453;    -   map module 454; and/or    -   online video module 455.

Examples of other applications 436 that may be stored in memory 402include other word processing applications, other image editingapplications, drawing applications, presentation applications,JAVA-enabled applications, encryption, digital rights management, voicerecognition, and voice replication.

In conjunction with touch screen 412, display controller 456, contactmodule 430, graphics module 432, and text input module 434, contactsmodule 437 may be used to manage an address book or contact list (e.g.,stored in application internal state 457), including: adding name(s) tothe address book; deleting name(s) from the address book; associatingtelephone number(s), e-mail address(es), physical address(es) or otherinformation with a name; associating an image with a name; categorizingand sorting names; providing telephone numbers or e-mail addresses toinitiate and/or facilitate communications by telephone 438, videoconference 439, e-mail 440, or IM 441; and so forth.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 408, audio circuitry 410, speaker 411,microphone 413, touch screen 412, display controller 456, contact module430, graphics module 432, and text input module 434, telephone module438 may be used to enter a sequence of characters corresponding to atelephone number, access one or more telephone numbers in address book437, modify a telephone number that has been entered, dial a respectivetelephone number, conduct a conversation and disconnect or hang up whenthe conversation is completed. As noted above, the wirelesscommunication may use any of a variety of communications standards,protocols and technologies.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 408, audio circuitry 410, speaker 411,microphone 413, touch screen 412, display controller 456, optical sensor464, optical sensor controller 458, contact module 430, graphics module432, text input module 434, contact list 437, and telephone module 438,videoconferencing module 439 includes executable instructions toinitiate, conduct, and terminate a video conference between a user andone or more other participants in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 408, touch screen 412, displaycontroller 456, contact module 430, graphics module 432, and text inputmodule 434, e-mail client module 440 includes executable instructions tocreate, send, receive, and manage e-mail in response to userinstructions. In conjunction with image management module 444, e-mailclient module 440 makes it very easy to create and send e-mails withstill or video images taken with camera module 443.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 408, touch screen 412, displaycontroller 456, contact module 430, graphics module 432, and text inputmodule 434, the instant messaging module 441 includes executableinstructions to enter a sequence of characters corresponding to aninstant message, to modify previously entered characters, to transmit arespective instant message (for example, using a Short Message Service(SMS) or Multimedia Message Service (MMS) protocol for telephony-basedinstant messages or using XMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS for Internet-basedinstant messages), to receive instant messages and to view receivedinstant messages. In some embodiments, transmitted and/or receivedinstant messages may include graphics, photos, audio files, video filesand/or other attachments as are supported in a MMS and/or an EnhancedMessaging Service (EMS). As used herein, “instant messaging” refers toboth telephony-based messages (e.g., messages sent using SMS or MMS) andInternet-based messages (e.g., messages sent using XMPP, SIMPLE, orIMPS).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 408, touch screen 412, displaycontroller 456, contact module 430, graphics module 432, text inputmodule 434, GPS module 435, map module 454, and music player module 446,workout support module 442 includes executable instructions to createworkouts (e.g., with time, distance, and/or calorie burning goals);communicate with workout sensors (sports devices); receive workoutsensor data; calibrate sensors used to monitor a workout; select andplay music for a workout; and display, store and transmit workout data.

In conjunction with touch screen 412, display controller 456, opticalsensor(s) 464, optical sensor controller 458, contact module 430,graphics module 432, and image management module 444, camera module 443includes executable instructions to capture still images or video(including a video stream) and store them into memory 402, modifycharacteristics of a still image or video, or delete a still image orvideo from memory 402.

In conjunction with touch screen 412, display controller 456, contactmodule 430, graphics module 432, text input module 434, and cameramodule 443, image management module 444 includes executable instructionsto arrange, modify (e.g., edit), or otherwise manipulate, label, delete,present (e.g., in a digital slide show or album), and store still and/orvideo images.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 408, touch screen 412, display systemcontroller 456, contact module 430, graphics module 432, and text inputmodule 434, browser module 447 includes executable instructions tobrowse the Internet in accordance with user instructions, includingsearching, linking to, receiving, and displaying web pages or portionsthereof, as well as attachments and other files linked to web pages.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 408, touch screen 412, display systemcontroller 456, contact module 430, graphics module 432, text inputmodule 434, e-mail client module 440, and browser module 447, calendarmodule 448 includes executable instructions to create, display, modify,and store calendars and data associated with calendars (e.g., calendarentries, to do lists, etc.) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 408, touch screen 412, display systemcontroller 456, contact module 430, graphics module 432, text inputmodule 434, and browser module 447, widget modules 449 aremini-applications that may be downloaded and used by a user (e.g.,weather widget 449-1, stocks widget 449-2, calculator widget 449-3,alarm clock widget 449-4, and dictionary widget 449-5) or created by theuser (e.g., user-created widget 449-6). In some embodiments, a widgetincludes an HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) file, a CSS (CascadingStyle Sheets) file, and a JavaScript file. In some embodiments, a widgetincludes an XML (Extensible Markup Language) file and a JavaScript file(e.g., Yahoo! Widgets).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 408, touch screen 412, display systemcontroller 456, contact module 430, graphics module 432, text inputmodule 434, and browser module 447, the widget creator module 450 may beused by a user to create widgets (e.g., turning a user-specified portionof a web page into a widget).

In conjunction with touch screen 412, display system controller 456,contact module 430, graphics module 432, and text input module 434,search module 451 includes executable instructions to search for text,music, sound, image, video, and/or other files in memory 402 that matchone or more search criteria (e.g., one or more user-specified searchterms) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with touch screen 412, display system controller 456,contact module 430, graphics module 432, audio circuitry 410, speaker411, RF circuitry 408, and browser module 447, video and music playermodule 452 includes executable instructions that allow the user todownload and play back recorded music and other sound files stored inone or more file formats, such as MP3 or AAC files, and executableinstructions to display, present or otherwise play back videos (e.g., ontouch screen 412 or on an external, connected display via external port424). In some embodiments, device 400 may include the functionality ofan MP3 player.

In conjunction with touch screen 412, display controller 456, contactmodule 430, graphics module 432, and text input module 434, notes module453 includes executable instructions to create and manage notes, to dolists, and the like in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 408, touch screen 412, display systemcontroller 456, contact module 430, graphics module 432, text inputmodule 434, GPS module 435, and browser module 447, map module 454 maybe used to receive, display, modify, and store maps and data associatedwith maps (e.g., driving directions; data on stores and other points ofinterest at or near a particular location; and other location-baseddata) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with touch screen 412, display system controller 456,contact module 430, graphics module 432, audio circuitry 410, speaker411, RF circuitry 408, text input module 434, e-mail client module 440,and browser module 447, online video module 455 includes instructionsthat allow the user to access, browse, receive (e.g., by streamingand/or download), play back (e.g., on the touch screen or on anexternal, connected display via external port 424), send an e-mail witha link to a particular online video, and otherwise manage online videosin one or more file formats, such as H.264. In some embodiments, instantmessaging module 441, rather than e-mail client module 440, is used tosend a link to a particular online video.

Each of the above identified modules and applications correspond to aset of executable instructions for performing one or more functionsdescribed above and the methods described in this application (e.g., thecomputer-implemented methods and other information processing methodsdescribed herein). These modules (i.e., sets of instructions) need notbe implemented as separate software programs, procedures or modules, andthus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwisere-arranged in various embodiments. In some embodiments, memory 402 maystore a subset of the modules and data structures identified above.Furthermore, memory 402 may store additional modules and data structuresnot described above.

In some embodiments, device 400 is a device where operation of apredefined set of functions on the device is performed exclusivelythrough a touch screen and/or a touchpad. By using a touch screen and/ora touchpad as the primary input control device for operation of device400, the number of physical input control devices (such as push buttons,dials, and the like) on device 400 may be reduced.

The predefined set of functions that may be performed exclusivelythrough a touch screen and/or a touchpad include navigation between userinterfaces. In some embodiments, the touchpad, when touched by the user,navigates device 400 to a main, home, or root menu from any userinterface that may be displayed on device 400. In such embodiments, thetouchpad may be referred to as a “menu button.” In some otherembodiments, the menu button may be a physical push button or otherphysical input control device instead of a touchpad.

FIG. 5 depicts illustrates an example portable multifunction device 400that may include a chassis for mounting multiple cameras (e.g., thechassis and/or camera(s) described above with reference to FIGS. 1A-3),in accordance with some embodiments. The device 400 may have a touchscreen 412. The touch screen 412 may display one or more graphics withinuser interface (UI) 500. In this embodiment, as well as others describedbelow, a user may select one or more of the graphics by making a gestureon the graphics, for example, with one or more fingers 502 (not drawn toscale in the figure) or one or more styluses 503 (not drawn to scale inthe figure).

Device 400 may also include one or more physical buttons, such as “home”or menu button 504. As described previously, menu button 504 may be usedto navigate to any application 436 in a set of applications that may beexecuted on device 400. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the menubutton 504 is implemented as a soft key in a GUI displayed on touchscreen 412.

In one embodiment, device 400 includes touch screen 412, menu button504, push button 506 for powering the device on/off and locking thedevice, volume adjustment button(s) 508, Subscriber Identity Module(SIM) card slot 510, head set jack 512, and docking/charging externalport 524. Push button 506 may be used to turn the power on/off on thedevice by depressing the button and holding the button in the depressedstate for a predefined time interval; to lock the device by depressingthe button and releasing the button before the predefined time intervalhas elapsed; and/or to unlock the device or initiate an unlock process.In an alternative embodiment, device 400 also may accept verbal inputfor activation or deactivation of some functions through microphone 413.

It should be noted that, although many of the examples herein are givenwith reference to optical sensor(s)/camera(s) 464 (on the front of adevice), one or more rear-facing cameras or optical sensors that arepointed opposite from the display may be used instead of, or in additionto, an optical sensor(s)/camera(s) 464 on the front of a device.

Example Computer System

FIG. 6 illustrates an example computer system 600 that may include achassis for mounting multiple cameras (e.g., the chassis and/orcamera(s) described above with reference to FIGS. 1A-3), according tosome embodiments. The computer system 600 may be configured to executeany or all of the embodiments described above. In different embodiments,computer system 600 may be any of various types of devices, including,but not limited to, a personal computer system, desktop computer,laptop, notebook, tablet, slate, pad, or netbook computer, mainframecomputer system, handheld computer, workstation, network computer, acamera, a set top box, a mobile device, a consumer device, video gameconsole, handheld video game device, application server, storage device,a television, a video recording device, a peripheral device such as aswitch, modem, router, or in general any type of computing or electronicdevice.

Various embodiments of a camera motion control system as describedherein, including embodiments of magnetic position sensing, as describedherein may be executed in one or more computer systems 600, which mayinteract with various other devices. Note that any component, action, orfunctionality described above with respect to FIGS. 1A-5 may beimplemented on one or more computers configured as computer system 600of FIG. 6, according to various embodiments. In the illustratedembodiment, computer system 600 includes one or more processors 610coupled to a system memory 620 via an input/output (I/O) interface 630.Computer system 600 further includes a network interface 640 coupled toI/O interface 630, and one or more input/output devices 650, such ascursor control device 660, keyboard 670, and display(s) 680. In somecases, it is contemplated that embodiments may be implemented using asingle instance of computer system 600, while in other embodimentsmultiple such systems, or multiple nodes making up computer system 600,may be configured to host different portions or instances ofembodiments. For example, in one embodiment some elements may beimplemented via one or more nodes of computer system 600 that aredistinct from those nodes implementing other elements.

In various embodiments, computer system 600 may be a uniprocessor systemincluding one processor 610, or a multiprocessor system includingseveral processors 610 (e.g., two, four, eight, or another suitablenumber). Processors 610 may be any suitable processor capable ofexecuting instructions. For example, in various embodiments processors610 may be general-purpose or embedded processors implementing any of avariety of instruction set architectures (ISAs), such as the x86,PowerPC, SPARC, or MIPS ISAs, or any other suitable ISA. Inmultiprocessor systems, each of processors 610 may commonly, but notnecessarily, implement the same ISA.

System memory 620 may be configured to store camera control programinstructions 622 and/or camera control data accessible by processor 610.In various embodiments, system memory 620 may be implemented using anysuitable memory technology, such as static random access memory (SRAM),synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), nonvolatile/Flash-type memory, or anyother type of memory. In the illustrated embodiment, programinstructions 622 may be configured to implement a lens controlapplication 624 incorporating any of the functionality described above.Additionally, existing camera control data 632 of memory 620 may includeany of the information or data structures described above. In someembodiments, program instructions and/or data may be received, sent orstored upon different types of computer-accessible media or on similarmedia separate from system memory 620 or computer system 600. Whilecomputer system 600 is described as implementing the functionality offunctional blocks of previous Figures, any of the functionalitydescribed herein may be implemented via such a computer system.

In one embodiment, I/O interface 630 may be configured to coordinate I/Otraffic between processor 610, system memory 620, and any peripheraldevices in the device, including network interface 640 or otherperipheral interfaces, such as input/output devices 650. In someembodiments, I/O interface 630 may perform any necessary protocol,timing or other data transformations to convert data signals from onecomponent (e.g., system memory 620) into a format suitable for use byanother component (e.g., processor 610). In some embodiments, I/Ointerface 630 may include support for devices attached through varioustypes of peripheral buses, such as a variant of the Peripheral ComponentInterconnect (PCI) bus standard or the Universal Serial Bus (USB)standard, for example. In some embodiments, the function of I/Ointerface 630 may be split into two or more separate components, such asa north bridge and a south bridge, for example. Also, in someembodiments some or all of the functionality of I/O interface 630, suchas an interface to system memory 620, may be incorporated directly intoprocessor 610.

Network interface 640 may be configured to allow data to be exchangedbetween computer system 600 and other devices attached to a network 685(e.g., carrier or agent devices) or between nodes of computer system600. Network 685 may in various embodiments include one or more networksincluding but not limited to Local Area Networks (LANs) (e.g., anEthernet or corporate network), Wide Area Networks (WANs) (e.g., theInternet), wireless data networks, some other electronic data network,or some combination thereof. In various embodiments, network interface640 may support communication via wired or wireless general datanetworks, such as any suitable type of Ethernet network, for example;via telecommunications/telephony networks such as analog voice networksor digital fiber communications networks; via storage area networks suchas Fibre Channel SANs, or via any other suitable type of network and/orprotocol.

Input/output devices 650 may, in some embodiments, include one or moredisplay terminals, keyboards, keypads, touchpads, scanning devices,voice or optical recognition devices, or any other devices suitable forentering or accessing data by one or more computer systems 600. Multipleinput/output devices 650 may be present in computer system 600 or may bedistributed on various nodes of computer system 600. In someembodiments, similar input/output devices may be separate from computersystem 600 and may interact with one or more nodes of computer system600 through a wired or wireless connection, such as over networkinterface 640.

As shown in FIG. 6, memory 620 may include program instructions 622,which may be processor-executable to implement any element or actiondescribed above. In one embodiment, the program instructions mayimplement the methods described above. In other embodiments, differentelements and data may be included. Note that data may include any dataor information described above.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that computer system 600 ismerely illustrative and is not intended to limit the scope ofembodiments. In particular, the computer system and devices may includeany combination of hardware or software that can perform the indicatedfunctions, including computers, network devices, Internet appliances,PDAs, wireless phones, pagers, etc. Computer system 600 may also beconnected to other devices that are not illustrated, or instead mayoperate as a stand-alone system. In addition, the functionality providedby the illustrated components may in some embodiments be combined infewer components or distributed in additional components. Similarly, insome embodiments, the functionality of some of the illustratedcomponents may not be provided and/or other additional functionality maybe available.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that, while various itemsare illustrated as being stored in memory or on storage while beingused, these items or portions of them may be transferred between memoryand other storage devices for purposes of memory management and dataintegrity. Alternatively, in other embodiments some or all of thesoftware components may execute in memory on another device andcommunicate with the illustrated computer system via inter-computercommunication. Some or all of the system components or data structuresmay also be stored (e.g., as instructions or structured data) on acomputer-accessible medium or a portable article to be read by anappropriate drive, various examples of which are described above. Insome embodiments, instructions stored on a computer-accessible mediumseparate from computer system 600 may be transmitted to computer system600 via transmission media or signals such as electrical,electromagnetic, or digital signals, conveyed via a communication mediumsuch as a network and/or a wireless link. Various embodiments mayfurther include receiving, sending or storing instructions and/or dataimplemented in accordance with the foregoing description upon acomputer-accessible medium. Generally speaking, a computer-accessiblemedium may include a non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium ormemory medium such as magnetic or optical media, e.g., disk orDVD/CD-ROM, volatile or non-volatile media such as RAM (e.g. SDRAM, DDR,RDRAM, SRAM, etc.), ROM, etc. In some embodiments, a computer-accessiblemedium may include transmission media or signals such as electrical,electromagnetic, or digital signals, conveyed via a communication mediumsuch as network and/or a wireless link.

The methods described herein may be implemented in software, hardware,or a combination thereof, in different embodiments. In addition, theorder of the blocks of the methods may be changed, and various elementsmay be added, reordered, combined, omitted, modified, etc. Variousmodifications and changes may be made as would be obvious to a personskilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. The variousembodiments described herein are meant to be illustrative and notlimiting. Many variations, modifications, additions, and improvementsare possible. Accordingly, plural instances may be provided forcomponents described herein as a single instance. Boundaries betweenvarious components, operations and data stores are somewhat arbitrary,and particular operations are illustrated in the context of specificillustrative configurations.

Additional Descriptions of Embodiments (Example Clauses)

Clause 1: A chassis for mounting multiple cameras, the chassiscomprising: a first chassis portion, comprising: a first top walldefining a first aperture; and a first set of side walls that extendfrom the first top wall; wherein the first top wall and the first set ofside walls define a first cavity for receiving at least a portion of afirst camera, such that the first chassis portion partially encases thefirst camera when the first camera is mounted to the chassis; a secondchassis portion, comprising: a second top wall defining a secondaperture; and a second set of side walls that extend from the second topwall; wherein the second top wall and the second set of side wallsdefine a second cavity for receiving at least a portion of a secondcamera, such that the second chassis portion partially encases thesecond camera when the second camera is mounted to the chassis; and aninterior side wall, located between the first cavity and the secondcavity, that is shared by the first chassis portion and the secondchassis portion.

Clause 2: The chassis of Clause 1, wherein the first set of side wallscomprises: an exterior side wall defining a recess for receiving an endportion of a stiffener to connect the stiffener to the chassis.

Clause 3: The chassis of Clause 2, wherein the exterior side wallcomprises: a first portion having a first wall thickness, wherein thefirst portion comprises an exterior surface of the recess to which theend portion of the stiffener is attached; and a second portion extendingfrom the first portion, the second portion having a second wallthickness that is greater than the first wall thickness.

Clause 4: The chassis of any of Clauses 2 or 3, wherein: the exteriorside wall is a first exterior side wall; the recess is a first recessfor receiving a first end portion of the stiffener; and the first set ofside walls further comprises: a second exterior side wall opposite thefirst exterior side wall, the second exterior side wall defining asecond recess for receiving a second end portion of the stiffener.

Clause 5: The chassis of any of Clauses 1-4, wherein: the first set ofside walls comprises: a first exterior side wall; and a second exteriorside wall opposite the first exterior side wall; the interior side wallextends from the first exterior side wall to the second exterior sidewall; and the interior side wall has a different wall thickness relativeto at least one of the first exterior side wall or the second exteriorside wall.

Clause 6: The chassis of any of Clauses 1-5, wherein the first top wallhas a different wall thickness relative to the second top wall.

Clause 7: The chassis of any of Clauses 1-6, wherein the chassis ismonolithic.

Clause 8: A system, comprising: a first camera; a second camera; astiffener that at least partially encases the first camera; and achassis to which at least the first camera and the second camera aremounted, the chassis comprising: a first chassis portion, comprising: afirst top wall defining a first aperture; and a first set of side wallsthat extend from the first top wall, at least one side wall of the firstset of side walls defining a respective recess within which a respectiveend portion of the stiffener is at least partially disposed andconnected to the chassis; wherein the first top wall and the first setof side walls define a first cavity within which at least a portion ofthe first camera is disposed, such that the first chassis portionpartially encases the first camera; and a second chassis portion,comprising: a second top wall defining a second aperture; and a secondset of side walls that extend from the second top wall; wherein thesecond top wall and the second set of side walls define a second cavitywithin which at least a portion of the second camera is disposed, suchthat the second chassis portion partially encases the second camera.

Clause 9: The system of Clause 8, wherein the chassis further comprises:an interior side wall, located between the first cavity and the secondcavity, that is shared by the first chassis portion and the secondchassis portion.

Clause 10: The system of Clause 9, wherein the interior side walldefines one or more pockets for an adhesive to be introduced to gapsbetween surfaces disposed within at least one of the first cavity or thesecond cavity.

Clause 11: The system of any of Clauses 8-10, wherein the at least oneside wall comprises: a first side wall defining a first recess withinwhich a first end portion of the stiffener is at least partiallydisposed and connected to the chassis, wherein the first end portion isbiased in a first direction towards the first side wall; and a secondside wall defining a second recess within which a second end portion ofthe stiffener is at least partially disposed and connected to thechassis, wherein the second end portion is biased in a second directiontowards the second side wall, and wherein the second direction isopposite the first direction.

Clause 12: The system of any of Clauses 8-11, wherein: the first cameracomprises: a lens group comprising one or more lens elements; an imagesensor to capture light that has passed through the first lens group;and a substrate to which the image sensor is attached; and the stiffenercomprises: a base portion that extends proximate to the substrate andparallel to the image sensor; and one or more end portions that extendfrom the base portion and that are oriented at a respective non-zeroangle relative to the base portion, the one or more end portionscomprising the respective end portion at least partially disposed withinthe respective recess.

Clause 13: The system of any of Clauses 8-12, wherein: the first cameracomprises: a lens group comprising one or more lens elements; an imagesensor to capture light that has passed through the first aperture andthe first lens group; and an actuator to move at least one of the lensgroup or the image sensor; and one or more interior surfaces of thefirst top wall define a pocket that accommodates at least a portion ofthe actuator, the one or more interior surfaces opposite at least oneexterior surface that blocks light from passing to the image sensor.

Clause 14: The system of any of Clauses 8-13, wherein there is no shieldcan between the first chassis portion and the first camera.

Clause 15: The system of any of Clauses 8-14, wherein: heat produced byone or more components of the first camera travels along a thermalconduction path and is dissipated from the chassis to an environmentexternal to the chassis; the respective end portion of the stiffener isattached to the at least one side wall via adhesive disposed within therespective recess; and the adhesive disposed within the respectiverecess is the only intervening material, in the thermal conduction path,between the stiffener and the chassis.

Clause 16: A method of manufacturing a chassis for mounting multiplecameras, the method comprising: removing material, from a piece ofmaterial, to form a first cavity that is at least partially defined by afirst top wall and a first set of side walls of a first chassis portion,the first cavity for receiving at least a portion of a first camera,such that the first chassis portion is structured to partially encasethe first camera when the first camera is mounted to the chassis;removing material, from the piece of material, to form a second cavitythat is at least partially defined by a second top wall and a second setof side walls of a second chassis portion, the second cavity forreceiving at least a portion of a second camera, such that the secondchassis portion is structured to partially encase the second camera whenthe second camera is mounted to the chassis; and removing material, fromthe piece of material, to form a recess defined by a side wall, of thefirst set of side walls or the second set of side walls, such that afirst portion of the side wall has a different wall thickness relativeto a second portion of the side wall due to the recess.

Clause 17: The method of Clause 16, wherein the removing material toform the first cavity and the removing material to form the secondcavity comprise: forming, via subtractive manufacturing, an interiorside wall located between the first cavity and the second cavity,wherein the interior side wall is shared by the first chassis portionand the second chassis portion, and wherein the interior side wall has adifferent wall thickness relative to at least one side wall of the firstset of side walls.

Clause 18: The method of any of Clauses 16 or 17, further comprising:removing material, from the piece of material, to form a first aperturedefined by the first top wall; and removing material, from the piece ofmaterial, to form a second aperture defined by the second top wall.

Clause 19: The method of any of Clauses 16-18, further comprising:removing material, from the piece of material, to form a pocket foraccommodating at least a portion of an actuator of the first camera,wherein the pocket is defined by one or more interior surfaces of thefirst top wall, and wherein the one or more interior surfaces areopposite at least one exterior surface of the first top wall.

Clause 20: The method of any of Clauses 16-19, wherein the removingmaterial to form the first cavity and the removing material to form thesecond cavity comprise: forming the first cavity and forming the secondcavity such that the first top wall has a different wall thicknessrelative to the second top wall.

Clause 21: A device, comprising: one or more processors; memory storingprogram instructions executable by the one or more processors to controloperation of at least one of a first camera or a second camera; thefirst camera; the second camera; a stiffener that at least partiallyencases the first camera; and a chassis to which at least the firstcamera and the second camera are mounted, the chassis comprising: afirst chassis portion, comprising: a first top wall defining a firstaperture; and a first set of side walls that extend from the first topwall, at least one side wall of the first set of side walls defining arespective recess within which a respective end portion of the stiffeneris at least partially disposed and connected to the chassis; wherein thefirst top wall and the first set of side walls define a first cavitywithin which at least a portion of the first camera is disposed, suchthat the first chassis portion partially encases the first camera; and asecond chassis portion, comprising: a second top wall defining a secondaperture; and a second set of side walls that extend from the second topwall; wherein the second top wall and the second set of side wallsdefine a second cavity within which at least a portion of the secondcamera is disposed, such that the second chassis portion partiallyencases the second camera.

Other allocations of functionality are envisioned and may fall withinthe scope of claims that follow. Finally, structures and functionalitypresented as discrete components in the example configurations may beimplemented as a combined structure or component. These and othervariations, modifications, additions, and improvements may fall withinthe scope of embodiments as defined in the claims that follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A chassis for mounting multiple cameras, thechassis comprising: a first chassis portion, comprising: a first topwall defining a first aperture; and a first set of side walls thatextend from the first top wall; wherein the first top wall and the firstset of side walls define a first cavity for receiving at least a portionof a first camera, such that the first chassis portion partially encasesthe first camera when the first camera is mounted to the chassis; asecond chassis portion, comprising: a second top wall defining a secondaperture; and a second set of side walls that extend from the second topwall; wherein the second top wall and the second set of side wallsdefine a second cavity for receiving at least a portion of a secondcamera, such that the second chassis portion partially encases thesecond camera when the second camera is mounted to the chassis; and aninterior side wall, located between the first cavity and the secondcavity, that is shared by the first chassis portion and the secondchassis portion.
 2. The chassis of claim 1, wherein the first set ofside walls comprises: an exterior side wall defining a recess forreceiving an end portion of a stiffener to connect the stiffener to thechassis.
 3. The chassis of claim 2, wherein the exterior side wallcomprises: a first portion having a first wall thickness, wherein thefirst portion comprises an exterior surface of the recess to which theend portion of the stiffener is attached; and a second portion extendingfrom the first portion, the second portion having a second wallthickness that is greater than the first wall thickness.
 4. The chassisof claim 2, wherein: the exterior side wall is a first exterior sidewall; the recess is a first recess for receiving a first end portion ofthe stiffener; and the first set of side walls further comprises: asecond exterior side wall opposite the first exterior side wall, thesecond exterior side wall defining a second recess for receiving asecond end portion of the stiffener.
 5. The chassis of claim 1, wherein:the first set of side walls comprises: a first exterior side wall; and asecond exterior side wall opposite the first exterior side wall; theinterior side wall extends from the first exterior side wall to thesecond exterior side wall; and the interior side wall has a differentwall thickness relative to at least one of the first exterior side wallor the second exterior side wall.
 6. The chassis of claim 1, wherein thefirst top wall has a different wall thickness relative to the second topwall.
 7. The chassis of claim 1, wherein the chassis is monolithic.
 8. Asystem, comprising: a first camera; a second camera; a stiffener that atleast partially encases the first camera; and a chassis to which atleast the first camera and the second camera are mounted, the chassiscomprising: a first chassis portion, comprising: a first top walldefining a first aperture; and a first set of side walls that extendfrom the first top wall, at least one side wall of the first set of sidewalls defining a respective recess within which a respective end portionof the stiffener is at least partially disposed and connected to thechassis; wherein the first top wall and the first set of side wallsdefine a first cavity within which at least a portion of the firstcamera is disposed, such that the first chassis portion partiallyencases the first camera; and a second chassis portion, comprising: asecond top wall defining a second aperture; and a second set of sidewalls that extend from the second top wall; wherein the second top walland the second set of side walls define a second cavity within which atleast a portion of the second camera is disposed, such that the secondchassis portion partially encases the second camera.
 9. The system ofclaim 8, wherein the chassis further comprises: an interior side wall,located between the first cavity and the second cavity, that is sharedby the first chassis portion and the second chassis portion.
 10. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein the interior side wall defines one or morepockets for an adhesive to be introduced to gaps between surfacesdisposed within at least one of the first cavity or the second cavity.11. The system of claim 8, wherein the at least one side wall comprises:a first side wall defining a first recess within which a first endportion of the stiffener is at least partially disposed and connected tothe chassis, wherein the first end portion is biased in a firstdirection towards the first side wall; and a second side wall defining asecond recess within which a second end portion of the stiffener is atleast partially disposed and connected to the chassis, wherein thesecond end portion is biased in a second direction towards the secondside wall, and wherein the second direction is opposite the firstdirection.
 12. The system of claim 8, wherein: the first cameracomprises: a lens group comprising one or more lens elements; an imagesensor to capture light that has passed through the first lens group;and a substrate to which the image sensor is attached; and the stiffenercomprises: a base portion that extends proximate to the substrate andparallel to the image sensor; and one or more end portions that extendfrom the base portion and that are oriented at a respective non-zeroangle relative to the base portion, the one or more end portionscomprising the respective end portion at least partially disposed withinthe respective recess.
 13. The system of claim 8, wherein: the firstcamera comprises: a lens group comprising one or more lens elements; animage sensor to capture light that has passed through the first apertureand the first lens group; and an actuator to move at least one of thelens group or the image sensor; and one or more interior surfaces of thefirst top wall define a pocket that accommodates at least a portion ofthe actuator, the one or more interior surfaces opposite at least oneexterior surface that blocks light from passing to the image sensor. 14.The system of claim 8, wherein there is no shield can between the firstchassis portion and the first camera.
 15. The system of claim 8,wherein: heat produced by one or more components of the first cameratravels along a thermal conduction path and is dissipated from thechassis to an environment external to the chassis; the respective endportion of the stiffener is attached to the at least one side wall viaadhesive disposed within the respective recess; and the adhesivedisposed within the respective recess is the only intervening material,in the thermal conduction path, between the stiffener and the chassis.16. A method of manufacturing a chassis for mounting multiple cameras,the method comprising: removing material, from a piece of material, toform a first cavity that is at least partially defined by a first topwall and a first set of side walls of a first chassis portion, the firstcavity for receiving at least a portion of a first camera, such that thefirst chassis portion is structured to partially encase the first camerawhen the first camera is mounted to the chassis; removing material, fromthe piece of material, to form a second cavity that is at leastpartially defined by a second top wall and a second set of side walls ofa second chassis portion, the second cavity for receiving at least aportion of a second camera, such that the second chassis portion isstructured to partially encase the second camera when the second camerais mounted to the chassis; and removing material, from the piece ofmaterial, to form a recess defined by a side wall, of the first set ofside walls or the second set of side walls, such that a first portion ofthe side wall has a different wall thickness relative to a secondportion of the side wall due to the recess.
 17. The method of claim 16,wherein the removing material to form the first cavity and the removingmaterial to form the second cavity comprise: forming, via subtractivemanufacturing, an interior side wall located between the first cavityand the second cavity, wherein the interior side wall is shared by thefirst chassis portion and the second chassis portion, and wherein theinterior side wall has a different wall thickness relative to at leastone side wall of the first set of side walls.
 18. The method of claim16, further comprising: removing material, from the piece of material,to form a first aperture defined by the first top wall; and removingmaterial, from the piece of material, to form a second aperture definedby the second top wall.
 19. The method of claim 16, further comprising:removing material, from the piece of material, to form a pocket foraccommodating at least a portion of an actuator of the first camera,wherein the pocket is defined by one or more interior surfaces of thefirst top wall, and wherein the one or more interior surfaces areopposite at least one exterior surface of the first top wall.
 20. Themethod of claim 16, wherein the removing material to form the firstcavity and the removing material to form the second cavity comprise:forming the first cavity and forming the second cavity such that thefirst top wall has a different wall thickness relative to the second topwall.
 21. A device, comprising: one or more processors; memory storingprogram instructions executable by the one or more processors to controloperation of at least one of a first camera or a second camera; thefirst camera; the second camera; a stiffener that at least partiallyencases the first camera; and a chassis to which at least the firstcamera and the second camera are mounted, the chassis comprising: afirst chassis portion, comprising: a first top wall defining a firstaperture; and a first set of side walls that extend from the first topwall, at least one side wall of the first set of side walls defining arespective recess within which a respective end portion of the stiffeneris at least partially disposed and connected to the chassis; wherein thefirst top wall and the first set of side walls define a first cavitywithin which at least a portion of the first camera is disposed, suchthat the first chassis portion partially encases the first camera; and asecond chassis portion, comprising: a second top wall defining a secondaperture; and a second set of side walls that extend from the second topwall; wherein the second top wall and the second set of side wallsdefine a second cavity within which at least a portion of the secondcamera is disposed, such that the second chassis portion partiallyencases the second camera.